diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
index c18b85c..b6b45f8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+    - uses: chartboost/ruff-action@v1
     - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
       uses: actions/setup-python@v2
       with:
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a1b580
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+repos:
+  - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
+    rev: v0.3.3
+    hooks:
+      - id: ruff
+        args: ["--fix"]
+      - id: ruff-format
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 49b2c9a..1e72c60 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,4 +15,7 @@ release:
 	@git push --follow-tags --all
 	@git push --tags
 
-.PHONY: test tag coverage clean release
+install-hooks:
+	@pre-commit install -f --install-hooks -t pre-commit
+
+.PHONY: test tag coverage clean release install-hooks
diff --git a/ruff.toml b/ruff.toml
index 46e6544..3e35689 100644
--- a/ruff.toml
+++ b/ruff.toml
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 line-length = 121
 indent-width = 4
+
+[lint]
+ignore = ["F401", "F403"]
diff --git a/yamale/schema/schema.py b/yamale/schema/schema.py
index fe0972c..2b8af90 100644
--- a/yamale/schema/schema.py
+++ b/yamale/schema/schema.py
@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ def _validate_any(self, validator, data, path, strict):
     def _validate_subset(self, validator, data, path, strict):
         def _internal_validate(internal_data):
             sub_errors = []
-            for val in validator.validators:
-                err = self._validate(val, internal_data, path, strict)
+            for v in validator.validators:
+                err = self._validate(v, internal_data, path, strict)
                 if not err:
                     break
                 sub_errors += err
diff --git a/yamale/util.py b/yamale/util.py
index 45c4ab3..eb1ab4f 100644
--- a/yamale/util.py
+++ b/yamale/util.py
@@ -1,27 +1,12 @@
-# ABCs for containers were moved to their own module
-try:
-    from collections.abc import Mapping, Set, Sequence
-except ImportError:
-    from collections import Mapping, Set, Sequence
+from collections.abc import Mapping, Sequence
 
 
-# Python 3 has no basestring, lets test it.
-try:
-    basestring  # attempt to evaluate basestring
+def isstr(s):
+    return isinstance(s, str)
 
-    def isstr(s):
-        return isinstance(s, basestring)
 
-    def to_unicode(s):
-        return unicode(s)
-
-except NameError:
-
-    def isstr(s):
-        return isinstance(s, str)
-
-    def to_unicode(s):
-        return s
+def to_unicode(s):
+    return s
 
 
 def is_list(obj):
diff --git a/yamale/yamale_testcase.py b/yamale/yamale_testcase.py
index 21ba6d7..49caea0 100644
--- a/yamale/yamale_testcase.py
+++ b/yamale/yamale_testcase.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def validate(self, validators=None):
         if schema is None:
             return
 
-        if type(yaml) != list:
+        if not isinstance(yaml, list):
             yaml = [yaml]
 
         if base_dir is not None: